In Tune by Gary L. Johnston Inside Your Town December 2004 Santa Rides Covingtonian to the Songwriters Hall of Fame! Every child knows that, "You better watch out! You better not cry! You better not pout - I'm telling you why - Santa Claus is coming to town!" Those words, penned in 1934 by local Covington songwriter, Haven Gillespie (1888-1975), have circled the globe. At one point, the song was selling 25,000 copies per DAY, and made Gillespie a millionaire (in 1940s dollars!) from royalties alone. James Lamont Haven Gillespie was one of the great Tin Pan Alley songwriters, penning the lyrics to well over 700 songs, including You Go To My Head , Honey, Breezin' Along With the Breeze, That Lucky Old Sun, Drifting and Dreaming of You, and You're in Kentucky Sure As You're Born. In 1904 at the age of 16, Haven Gillespie left high school in Covington to become a newspaper typesetter for the now defunct Cincinnati Times Star. By 1908 he was a journalist for the New York Times and several other newspapers. It was then, at 20, that he began writing lyrics for vaudeville acts on Tin Pan Alley, and by 23 he was under contract with publisher Leo Feist, Inc. Gillespie collaborated with several other composers in the 1920s and 1930s, but the association with pianist and composer J. Fred Coots yielded his most memorable songs such as his 1938 tune, You Go To My Head. At age 46, Gillespie went to Manhattan to meet with his publisher right after attending his brother's funeral. His publisher wanted a children's song. Haven was not too enthusiastic about the prospect of writing a children's song, but his publisher (Leo Feist, Inc.) was insistent. 15 minutes later while on the subway after leaving his publisher's office, Gillespie penned the now famous words . The music was then written by native New York composer John Frederick Coots. It premiered on the "Eddie Cantor Thanksgiving Show" and became an overnight sensation. But according to biographer and nephew William Frist, who in 1997 wrote, "Drifting and Dreaming: The Story of Songwriter Haven Gillespie," he was never really enthusiastic about Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, mainly because it reminded him about the death of his brother. The Covington native's songs have been recorded throughout the 20th Century by such greats as Sarah Vaughn, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Michael Jackson, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong. 1. Gillespie was awarded the Freedoms Foundation award at 62 in 1950 for his song God's Country. In 1972, three years before his death in Las Vegas at age 87, Haven Gillespie was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots You better watch out You better not cry Better not pout I'm telling you why Santa Claus is coming to town He's making a list And checking it twice; Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice Santa Claus is coming to town He sees you when you're sleeping He knows when you're awake He knows if you've been bad or good So be good for goodness sake! O! You better watch out! You better not cry Better not pout I'm telling you why Santa Claus is coming to town Santa Claus is coming to town -- Professor Gary L. Johnston, is a member of the music faculty at NKU. He writes and lectures on music, computers, and amateur radio, and performs on trombone, and composes. Gary conducts the Mt. Auburn Brass Fellowship, and is President of the Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Community Orchestra, and is a member of the board of the Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington, Ky. He lives in Edgewood. Gary would love to hear your ideas about music and Northern Kentucky musical opportunities. You can reach him at <[email protected]>. Website <http://mus100.nku.edu>. "Musical training is a more potent force than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inner places of the soul." - Plato -- 2. .